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Still working on it. I have taken a ton of notes, but I haven't done the tracking tests. I did get the Horus Vision calibration targets edelweiss suggested, and although they were way more expensive than I thought they would be, they are awesome!

Don't know anything about a $3500.00 Leupold, but I do know that all I shoot is Leupold VXIII scopes. Have used only the VXIII since they came out and I have 3ea 3 1/2 x10's, 4ea 4 x14's and a 6 1/2 x 20. Never had a problem with any of them. I also only use the Leupold Target Dot reticle, it is in every one of them. I also have an older 6x Leupold Golden Ring.

My credo when I was working (as an aerospace production research engineering director) was..."If it ain't broke, don't fix it". None of my Leupolds are "broke", so thats what I'll keep using!!

Colorado Cowboy
Cowboy Action Shooter; Endowment Life Member-NRA
The Original Rocket Scientist-Retired
"My Father always considered a walk in the mountains as the equivalent of church going."
Aldous Huxley

I got a Mk4 and VX3 I'm happy with. From the non biased people I've talked to I think the glass will be better in the Leupy's than the PST. I've even read many reviews (and I believe Vortex has even admitted this) that the glass in the 6-24 PST is better than the 4-16. Why, I have no idea. I really like the lighter weight of the Leupy's for a hunting rifle.

I got components ordered up for a lighter-mid weight hunting rifle. I'm really struggling with the scope, although I got lots of time to ponder it. I need something somewhat light weight, but set up for LR. 30mm tube, exposed turrets and 17+ power are necessities. I've considered going with a PST, or a 40mm Obj VX3 LR with M1s and a TMR. If I was a rich man I'd order up a 2.5-25x42 March Tactical, with MOA reticle and knobs. That's a dream scope for a LR hunting rifle right there.

Still have to put it all together, 24/7. I have been diverted to some other tasks, but here are the cliff's notes:

These are three quality scopes.

The Swaro is the optical winner, and not by a little. The image is spotting-scope quality. The reticle is a quick and effective way to make elevation corrections, but not as precised as dialing.

The Leupold is a very nice scope overall, and edges out the Vortex optically at max magnification, but has some real drawbacks in a few areas, but none more so than the variable eye relief. I had to move my head more than 1/2" between low magnification and high magnification!!

The Vortex is a crazy good value and beats out the Mark4 in every category except contrast at max magnification. It had the longest eye relief and was dead nuts constant throughout the magnifiation range, which was also the widest.

I like the Swaro on a trim hunting rifle, and the Vortex for a dedicated LR setup.

The Leupy is very good, but I would not purchase it over either the Z3 or the PST, especially in light of it's significantly more expensive street price.

Hey Bitterroot, its been about a month since I've been on here, i'm excited to here the results on your test! I am still waiting on my order for a Vortex pst 6-24 mil, I was also going to get a CATs target and read the manual for them, seems that they are designed to be used one after the other to make sure the scope is calibrated correctly, did you use all of them or just the first group? i'm kinda curious. I'm really excited to get my scope dialed in on my .308